Bike Taxis: Karnataka Government calls Ola, Uber services illegal

Hours after launching bike taxi services in Bengaluru, regional transport office has thrown the gauntlet to car aggregators Ola and Uber, terming the new facility as illegal. While some reports claim that the Karnataka transport department has said that necessary permits to run these taxis have not been obtained, others held that authorities have started seizing the bikes involved. 

According to a report in The Times of India, the Karnataka transport department has said these two companies have not obtained permit or licence to run ride sharing bikes in Bengaluru. Cautioning that the vehicles were not entitled for insurance cover, it has threatened to take action against both the companies.

Meanwhile, another report in the Deccan Herald has gone on to claim that the transport department officials have started seizing such vehicles from the roads.

According to a senior official quoted in the report, the bikes are being run as non-transport vehicles. There are no badges and yellow boards on these bikes which are required for transport vehicles. “We will not allow them to operate,” the official has been quoted as saying in the report.

Uber was the first one to launch bike taxis in Bengaluru as Ola followed suit within a matter of a few days with its pilot. While the service from Ola was announced to cost Rs 2 for every km apart from Re 1 per minute ride time charge, on a base fare of Rs 30, the UberMOTO bike taxi service was slated to start from a base fare of Rs 15 as Uber will charge Rs 3 per km apart from Re 1 for every minute of the ride time. 

Sources told PTI that 500-odd people had signed up on Ola's platform for the service.

While numerous companies like MTaxi, Mu Ride, Pilot, Streetryderr, Rapido, HeadLYT, Hey Bob and Pillionaire are operating bike taxi services in the country, it looks like Ola and Uber will have to wait in the wings for at least some more time to enter this marketplace.